Effective Gouge-Free Tool Selection for Free-Form Surface Machining

Offsetting surface boundaries and 3-axis gouge-free surface machining

A key issue in the creation of error-free tool path for numerically controlled (NC) surface machining is gouging (over-cut> prevention. In the case of solid-based machining, where the creation of tool paths across several surfaces in a single pass is imperative, the major sources for gouging are the tangent discontinuity (C’ discontinuity) and the surface gap (Co discontinuity) occurred in the ...

Machining Free-Form Surfaces

This paper presents an analytical method for planning an efficient tool-path in machining free-form surfaces on 3-axis milling machines. This new approach uses a nonconstant offset of the previous tool-path, which guarantees the cutter moving in an unmachined area of the part surface and without redundant machining. The method comprises three steps: (1) the calculation of the tool-path interval...

Tool Path Planning for Machining Free-form Surfaces

This paper is about new iso-parametric tool path planning for machining trimmed freeform surfaces. The trimmed surface has been re-parameterized by two different parameterization techniques, namely, the partial differential equation method and the newly developed boundary interpolation method. The efficiency of the scheme has been measured in terms of path length and computational time needed f...

Automated tool sequence selection for 3-axis machining of free-form pockets

This paper describes an efficient method to find the lowest cost tool sequence for rough machining free-form pockets on a 3-axis milling machine. The free-form pocket is approximated to within a predefined tolerance of the desired surface using series of 2.5-D layers of varying thicknesses that can be efficiently removed with flat-end milling cutters. A graph-based method finds an optimal seque...

Free-Form Surface Matching for Surface Inspection